PREVIEW: Stout Wall Hawks Look to go 3-0 in District Against TLCA

SAN ANGELO- The Wall Hawks have shut out two district opponents and will look to stay perfect in district when they take on the San Angelo TLCA Eagles.

Wall (6-1, 2-0) vs San Angelo TLCA (3-4, 1-1)

Last week, the Hawks beat up the Ballinger Bearcats after crushing Grape Creek the week before. Against Ballinger, the offense put up 357 rushing yards, 144 from Nathan Pepper, and five touchdowns, two from Pepper. 10 different players had at least one chance to run the ball. In the last two games, the offense has put up 104 points and 882 yards.

The defense has been equally impressive and has not given up any points in district play so far. Against Ballinger, the young guys had themselves a game. Sophomore Brylan White went off and had eight total tackles, four or a loss, and three sacks. Freshman Hagyn Barbee had seven total tackles, one for a loss, and one interception, and junior Logan Thomas six tackles, two for loss, two sacks, and one passes defended.

Those stats look nice, but they come from last week and Wall is focused on TLCA.

Coach Guy has said repeatedly that the Eagles have a good quarterback in Layne Honea and that he’s a good fit for what TLCA wants to do. The Hawk’s defense is going to get after it so Honea doesn’t have time to get comfortable.

Wall’s defense has been playing lights out. They currently have nine players (Jayden Sellers, Dylan Gidney, Logan Thomas, Will Scherr, Ryan Andrews, Ryan Allen, Brylan White, Caleb Valles, and Matthew Steen) with over 30 tackles this season.

Gidney and White hunt the opposing quarterback and have 12 of Wall’s 21 sacks so far this season. Add in Thomas’s numbers and three players are responsible for 15. Of the 61 quarterback hurries, Gidney and White combine for 27.

Wall is also around the ball quite a bit as they have nine interceptions, 31 passes defended, five fumble recoveries, and three caused fumbles. Briggs Jones and Scherr have two interceptions a piece and five players have one each.

Of course, the offense has been running wild to the tune of 2,358 yards and 29 touchdowns. Nathan Pepper, Garrett Guy, Canyon McCabe, Gunner Dillard, Landon Beeles, Luke Kemp, and Jayden Sellers have most of those yards with Pepper leading the way with 711 and 10 touchdowns.

The running game is what Wall is good at and it wouldn’t be right to not talk about the offensive line. Players like Lee Brake, Colter Gilchrest, Landon Melton, Kirkland Pritz, and J.D. Reid don’t get a lot of love because when an offensive lineman’s name is called, it’s usually for something bad. Coach Guy did say that this group, especially Reid work extremely hard. When you’ve got running backs who have put together nearly 2,500 yards, you’re doing your job.

Guy said Reid worked back from injury and has been working hard at center. Reid makes the team better not only by being out there but by freeing up other players that work filling in at center like Gidney and Sellers.

As for TLCA, they’ve got their work cut out for them against the Hawks. They did lose to Brady but rebounded against Grape Creek last week 28-0. In week 1, the Eagles beat the Ozona Lions and Honea was slinging the ball around. He went 14-39 for 291 yards, six touchdowns, and one interception.

Receivers Jelan Johnson and Ivan Oviedo had 87 yards apiece, Colin Taylor had 67 yards, and Kelby Thomas went for 56 yards all in one game.

Against Grape Creek, Honea had a 70-yard touchdown pass so he can make the big throws when the time comes, and the Eagles can score. They’ve put up 154 points in seven games, a 22-point average but have given up 193 (27.5 points per game).

Even if Wall has a couple players out for various reasons, expect that defense to get after the Eagles and the offensive line to open running lanes for their ball carriers. The Hawks are focused and will be ready as the Wall coaching staff always does.

District Standings:

1. Wall Hawks
2. Early Longhorns
3. Brady Bulldogs
4. San Angelo TLCA Eagles
5. Ballinger Bearcats
6. Grape Creek Eagles

Other games in this district:

• Brady (3-4, 1-1) vs Ballinger (0-7, 0-2)
• Grape Creek (0-7, 0-2) vs Early (4-3, 2-0)

While Wall will probably run away with this district, Early and Brady could give the Hawks some fits when over the next couple weeks so COVER1 will be watching closely to see if Wall can get surprised. Tune into COVER1 on Friday at 4:00, 8:00, and 10:00 p.m. for exclusive coaches’ interviews, score updates, highlights, and more only on San Angelo LIVE!